


Water, Water, Everywhere

by Recila (Flickering_Ember)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Chat Blanc - Freeform, Episode: s03 Chat Blanc, Gen, also the relationship tag is pretty much exclusively because of the episode and chat's fixation haha, just the ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:20:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27537475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flickering_Ember/pseuds/Recila
Summary: And not a drop to drink.(Sometimes, Chat Blanc heard Hawk Moth. If he closed his eyes and focused on his breathing, he could. Find Ladybug, Hawk Moth insisted. Always, find Ladybug. Sometimes take her Miraculous, and, rarely, you can fix this–)
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug (Minor)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29





	Water, Water, Everywhere

**Author's Note:**

> Good morning, evening, or afternoon! Old episode, but I'm more interested in knowing how Chat's mind degraded than the ship bait they dangled uselessly in the water. Thus: a drabble.  
> Enjoy!

Chat Blanc was barely breathing by the time he managed to pull himself out of the water. He couldn't think – there was a ringing in his ears and what felt like half the Seine trapped in his suit. Moving was difficult, at first, but Paris – France? How far did it go? Was that the _moon-?_ \- was still flooding, so he pushed himself. From the car he first climbed out on, to an apartment that had water lapping at his shins, to a crumbling balcony with shattered flower pots. He lingered there, for a moment, because it was familiar and he was still having trouble identifying anything past _take the miraculous!_ and _you don’t have to do this!_ and everything was so so _so_ blue –

He settled on what remained of the fence, perched like he was meant to live here, and waited for the ringing in his ears to settle.

It was some minutes before Chat Blanc noticed his hands were shaking, and once he noticed _that_ , it was impossible to stop. The shaking spread up his arms and down his legs, and soon Chat had all but fallen to the balcony proper and doubled over as everything, _everything_ came rushing back. He had – Marinette had – _his father was –_

Chat curled into the ground and clawed at his ears. “Claws – in… Plagg, claws in, _claws in –_ " He wasn't transforming. Why wasn't he changing back? " _Plagg_ , this isn’t funny! Claws _in_ , I don’t – I don’t want to be, I _can’t_ – _**Claws in**_ _,_ Plagg, please –” Why wasn’t he? He should be _Adrien_ now, he was still Noir – Blanc, either, it didn’t matter, why wasn’t he back to normal?!

Cataclysm – it wasn’t, it was blue and this was _wrongwrongwrong_ – burned in his hands and Chat Blanc slammed it into a pot shard. The shard crumbled to dust in seconds, but he felt nothing else for it. More blue light grew from his palms – Chat Blanc tried again, and again and again until there were no shards left, no crumbling fence or dismembered plants, and he is _still_ Chat – Noir? Blanc?

Something cold settled in his chest, and Chat curled up on the corner of Marinette’s balcony.

* * *

Chat Blanc blinked as he was forced back into reality. There was a clawing in his chest again, like something was attacking his ribs and he didn’t know what to _do._ It had been weeks – Months? or just days? It was impossible to tell. The akuma in his chest, his bell, _him_ , it didn’t need sleep, or food, or drink, or… anything. Without Hawk Moth – his father – _Hawk Moth_ telling him what to do, Chat Blanc felt – lost. For all intents and purposes, he was simply lost. He didn’t even have his Lady nearby, and she would know what to do. She always did.

The pressure against his chest worsened and Chat Blanc stood. She _would_ know what to do, he just had to find her. If anyone else was still around, she would be one of them. Ladybug – Marinette – was one of the cleverest people he knew. If anyone would have survived, it would be her. Marinette had to of. If she was dead – no, not _dead_ , he was… he was an akuma, but no one really died in _akuma_ attacks. Not forever. Marinette would make it better, soon, he just had to find her. And – maybe, if he asked…

No. That wasn’t him, was it? If he had her earrings, maybe – _no_. No, no. That wasn’t him. That was the akuma. Chat didn’t want her earrings, he wanted _Marinette_.

Or… Maybe Nino. Even Alya or Chloe would do – anyone would. Anyone who could tell him what day it was and that he was okay, and this could be fixed and it was _okay._ It would be okay.

The water level was _still_ rising.

… He should look for her again.

Chat Blanc dove into the water.

* * *

Sometimes, Chat Blanc heard Hawk Moth. If he closed his eyes and focused on his breathing, he could. _Find Ladybug_ , Hawk Moth insisted. Always, _find Ladybug_. Sometimes _take her Miraculous_ , and, rarely, _you can fix this_ –

It was getting difficult to remember his _father_ and not Hawk Moth. Or his classmates – they were blurring, he was _sure_ that was bad. Chat Blanc just couldn’t figure out why, exactly. He had – friends, hadn’t he? If Chat Blanc thought about it, it started feeling like his ribs were being pushed out again, and he needed to find Lady– Marinette – not… he needed _Marinette_. If he needed his Lady, that was like Chat Blanc saying he needed the Miraculous and he _didn’t._ He just needed someone. Anyone, _anyone_ at all.

No. He needed to focus. Who could he remember? There was Nino. Nino was good. He got akumatized for Chat’s – no, _Adrien’s_ sake. Chloe. She was his childhood friend. Sabrina; he couldn’t remember the last time he saw Sabrina without Chloe. The last time he saw either of them… There was – Alya. She was a lot. So much. Dedicated. There was – Rose. Always the most optimistic. Juleka. Kim. Max. Lila – _Lila_. Chat Blanc shook his head, but there was already blue energy gathering in his hands, spurred on by a rush of anger – had he always been so angry with her? Lila was terrible, but she wasn’t – he didn’t remember… Maybe. Maybe he had hated her then. It didn’t matter. Chat Blanc slammed his hand down on the car he was perched on, jumped away when it started to sink – then kept going.

Who else, who else? Natalie – his father’s secretary. She was kind, wasn’t she? Yes. Gorilla… what was his name? His real name, his _real_ name… He couldn’t remember. Had Chat Blanc – _Adrien_ , had Adrien ever known? Chat Blanc's chest felt like it was going to explode. He needed to – _nothing_ , he needed to get to a high place, somewhere else, somewhere he could _think_ away from all this water…

* * *

Chat Blanc started, stopped, and settled for simply sitting near his Lady. Or, Marinette right now? He couldn’t quite make out the domino mask, but maybe she wasn’t wearing it right now, and… well, it didn’t matter which he was sitting with, because she was both.

“It’s been quiet, huh minou?” Ladybug – this _was_ Ladybug now, he was sure of it. In the mask. She was the same person, always, always, but there were differences in how she carried herself. Acted. Patrol? It was dusk… Must be. “I almost like it.”

Chat Blanc hummed and now collapsed against her. Ladybug teasingly petted his head. Chat retaliated by slumping until his head fell to her lap. She was colder than he remembered. "Why? We can relax without a _purr_ oblem.”

Ladybug scoffed, her hand pulling away – a shame – and leaned back. “I don’t know. Whenever Hawk Moth goes quiet like this, something big is in the works. He hasn’t even tried anything with _you_ , and…”

Her hand was inching towards his bell. Chat Blanc batted it away, curling around the (sometimes annoying) thing protectively. “Stop it. It’s fine; I’m fine like this.”

She didn’t say anything. It took a moment before Chat Blanc realized she was gone.

* * *

“ _Little kitty on a roof_ _top,_

_all alone without his Lady...”_

He wasn’t sure how long he had been waiting this time. Chat Blanc _had_ been waiting though. Patient. His Lady had called him out on his recklessness before; she would appreciate his being patient now, Chat Blanc was sure of it. Though, he wasn’t entirely convinced he hadn’t been stood up. They were supposed to meet at the ice rink, weren’t they? Chat had been waiting there for a few hours now; it had been dawn when he arrived. Now it was nearly noon. At least it still felt pleasant.

Chat Blanc couldn’t feel things very well, through his akuma and the suit, but the sun was hot above him (he could have sworn it was snowing just the other day, remembered skating on the frozen water, but maybe-) and the ice rink was cool behind him. It was a nice juxtaposition that left him feeling pleasantly in either direction, depending on how he leaned.

“Chat Noir?”

_There_ she was.

* * *

Ladybug landed poorly on the floating building, her legs giving with the force of her landing and her own distraction; Chat Blanc couldn’t pass this up, absolutely not. She was _running_ , after all – what kind of Lady ran from her own kitten? He pounced from the rooftop, springing on landing and coming down on top of her. Pinning her wasn’t as easy as grabbing her, because Ladybug was _nothing_ if not a fighter, but that’s what his belt was for. Chat Blanc leaned in close, nuzzled into the crook of her neck and relished the unfamiliar _warmth_ there. He had gotten too used to her being cold. Chat Blanc could readjust to warmth, though… and well, his actions had certainly distracted Ladybug enough.

Within just a minute, he had her wrists, probably uncomfortably, bound in his belt. Chat Blanc would have much preferred to keep them looser, but he really couldn’t risk her escaping and taking off.

“That was a fun game of catch, my Lady, but I think I’ve won this time,” he said, still nuzzled up close; one hand was occupied with double checking how well she was bound to the building – he was _not_ risking her slamming her fists on his head, thank you – and the other brushing through her hair. Ladybug was tense and shaking, barely breathing. Terrified, surely – she had _run_ , after all, and Chat Blanc could recall only a few times Ladybug had outright fled anyone or any _thing_. Strategic regrouping, distractions, and luring didn’t count. “I think I’ll be taking my prize now…”

It was tricky, pulling off her earrings; Marinette was thrashing and begging and _definitely_ not making it easy. He didn’t trust his belt to keep her hand down either, so Chat Blanc only really had the one hand to keep her head as still as possible, _and_ pull out her earrings without losing them or tearing them through her earlobes.

Admittedly, that could be fixed – his Lady fixed everything – but he still didn’t like the idea of hurting her so badly. It was one thing to tie her down a little a too tightly – something else entirely to rip through her. Chat Blanc wouldn’t _dare_ – his Cataclysm was the worst he would do, certainly. Just drain her… ah.

_That_ was a good idea.

Chat Blanc pulled his hand from her ear, and gathered an absolutely minuscule amount of power in his hand, less than he’d even been chasing her with. Admittedly, now that he could focus again, that amount would have… probably done some damage. Not kill her! No, no, no, never her, _never._ But it was dangerous, and _that_ was unforgivable.

“Chat? What – what are you doing? Please, just let me help you, and this will all go back to normal–” Ladybug twisted and squirmed. Somehow, she seemed less scared than before – more alarmed than afraid. Chat Blanc supposed that was his lady. So brave. He loved her.

So it was with _some_ regret that he pressed the blue Cataclysm into her arm. “Don’t worry about it, bugaboo.” She was going limp, but not crumbling – that was good. He… didn’t like it, though. The way the fight drained out of her. Chat Blanc hated seeing Marinette so weak, so – so _unlike herself_ , but it was for the best. It was. He soothed himself with the idea of her relaxing around him willingly. And she would, soon. “This cat is cleaning up his own mess. I’ll make things even better than before, you’ll see.”

“Chat Noir, _please_ , think about what you’re doing…”

“I’m Chat _Blanc_. And I have been.” For who knew how long, actually. He knew just what to wish for, and Marinette would never be in danger again – Hawk Moth wouldn’t exist either, _no_. Not when Hawk Moth killed – no, he didn’t. Chat Blanc didn’t either. His Lady was right here and Chat Blanc had the earrings in hand to prove it.

… He had the earrings.

So, what now? Chat Blanc stared at them blankly. There was a pull to find Hawk Moth – he had the Miraculous, he should give them up… shouldn’t he? But that wasn’t right. Chat Blanc wanted to make a wish _himself_. So how did he do that? He shifted off of Marinette, keeping carefully out of reach of her legs. Although she was clearly too weak to do much more than watch and issue token protests. Marinette couldn’t even move her arms properly, though she was definitely trying. Chat Blanc would have liked to feel guilt, but he just couldn’t. Not right now. He compromised by combing his fingers through her hair. Even through his glove, Chat Blanc could feel how soft it was…

… But where was her kwami? He had stolen her earrings, turned her back to Marinette – shouldn’t her kwami have shown? He didn’t know what to do, surely a _kwami_ would know, and hers was the only one that should have been available – Plagg certainly wouldn’t be able to help. If he hadn’t so much as let Chat Blanc transform back, why would he come out now? He wouldn’t. No help at all. Maybe if Chat Blanc just… pushed the two Miraculous together, something would happen.

So, he did.

And the world went _white._

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. <3


End file.
